Up-and-Coming Young Talent: Variety Youth Impact Report (PHOTOS)

Sofia Black-D’Elia

The 21-year-old got her start on ABC sudser “All My Children,” and also had key roles on MTV’s U.S. “Skins” reboot and on the final season of “Gossip Girl.” Still relatively unknown, Black-D’Elia is filming a key role in “Almanac” — Paramount’s Michael Bay-produced found-footage time-travel project — and wrapped the independent action thriller “Born of War,” which has been screening in film markets since Busan.

Dove Cameron

As other young actresses have found, landing the role of twins can be a big break for a rising star. That’s in the cards for Cameron, who will play identical sisters in the upcoming Disney skein “Liv & Maddie,” the latest effort from “Hannah Montana” shingle It’s a Laugh Prods. The cabler is so bullish on Cameron and her new show, they picked it up straight to series without even shooting a pilot. The actress also stars as a prima donna snowboarder in the Mouse’s made-for “Cloud 9.”

Chandler Canterbury

Straight out of the gate at age 9, Canterbury revealed his knack for playing mature roles, embodying a reverse-aging 77-year-old in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” He also starred opposite Nicolas Cage in Summit’s “Knowing.” Other credits include Stephenie Meyer adaptation “The Host” and “Repo Men” alongside Jude Law and Forest Whitaker. Canterbury can next be seen in “When Angels Sing,” a yuletide pic that debuted at SXSW in March.

Chance the Rapper

At a time when so many of Chicago’s upcoming emcees seem sadly caught up in the city’s nightmarish gang warfare, 20-year-old Chance the Rapper provides a welcome sunny antidote. On the strength of two stellar mixtapes, Chance has won raves from both Pitchfork and the L.A. Times, and he’ll make his festival debut at this summer’s Lollapalooza. Thoughtful, funny and literate, Chance’s music most recalls early Kanye West — way back when Kanye was still a likable Everyman who rapped about working at the Gap.

Conner Chapman

It would be ungenerous to suggest that the role of Arbor, the angry young hero of Clio Barnard’s “The Selfish Giant,” wasn’t much of a stretch for then-12-year-old British thesp Chapman. Hailing from the Bradford housing estates where the tragic drama unfolds, Chapman drew much of the praise for his ferocious lead performance in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight discovery. He’ll next be seen in the Channel 4 period drama “The Mill,” premiering July 28.

Kaitlyn Dever

A standout of this year’s American indie festival circuit, 16-year-old Dever has a small part in Sundance competish title “The Spectacular Now” and a pivotal role as a troubled teen in “Short Term 12,” which earned SXSW’s grand jury and audience awards. Other credits include “Bad Teacher,” “J. Edgar,” and “Cinema Verite.” Next up is Lynn Shelton’s dark comedy “Laggies” alongside Keira Knightley.

Benjamin Flores Jr.

The star of Nickelodeon’s supernatural sitcom “The Haunted Hathaways,” the young actor-rapper (who turns 11 on July 24) goes by the handle “Lil P-Nut” and holds the winning title for numerous local talent showcases, where he grabbed the attention of host Ellen DeGeneres. Flores became an Internet sensation after appearing on her talkshow twice. His repertoire includes several commercials and musicvideos, where he’s worked alongside Three 6 Mafia.

Gattlin Griffith

Griffith, 14, got an early lesson in filmmaking from Clint Eastwood when he played Angelina Jolie’s son in “Changeling.” “He taught me that more takes doesn’t make it a better movie,” Griffith told Variety in 2009. “Now that I’ve worked in a couple of more movies, I use that. It really does help.” The oldest of four brothers, Griffith next shares the screen with Kate Winslet in Jason Reitman’s “Labor Day” for Paramount.

Skai Jackson

The 11-year-old actress began her career as a model, appearing in several national commercials before landing her role in the Disney Channel sitcom “Jessie.” While the show was on hiatus, Jackson shot two movies, playing Dwayne Johnson’s daughter in “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” and a survivor of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in “The Watsons Go to Birmingham,” airing on the Hallmark Channel’s Walden Family Theater this fall.

Liam James

The 16-year-old star of Fox Searchlight’s “The Way Way Back” was among the more buzzed-about breakouts of this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Jamesbegan acting at age 9 in his native Vancouver, where encouragement to pursue bigger roles led to a series regular role on “The Killing.” He has also appeared in Roland Emmerich’s “2012,” played James Roday’s younger self in USA’s “Psych” and acted opposite Vince Vaughn in “Fred Claus.”

Sterling Jerins

This summer, Jerins made a strong impression as Brad Pitt’s frightened younger daughter in zombie-uprising blockbuster “World War Z,” and got even more freaked out in James Wan’s “The Conjuring.” The 8-year-old actress also has two indie features in the can, “Lullaby” and “Butterflies of Bill Baker,” as well as a significant role in Rob Reiner’s “And So It Goes.” Next, she is attached to political thriller “The Coup” with Owen Wilson.

Joey-Badass

He may be fresh outta high school (which perhaps explains why his stage name so closely resembles a 10th-grader’s Xbox Live handle), but this 18-year-old New Yorker has built up enough momentum in the rap world to make post-graduation planning a breeze. Recent months have seen Badass score a guest spot on ASAP Rocky’s No. 1 January album, a place on XXL’s Freshman 10 and a set at Hot 97’s zeitgeisty Summer Jam concert. A mixtape vet who allegedly turned down a record deal offer from Jay Z’s Roc Nation, Badass’ proper debut is slated for early 2014.

Aramis Knight

After eight years of consistent and diverse guest roles on shows ranging from “General Hospital” to “Dexter,” 13-year-old Knight has scored his first gig as a series regular on the upcoming “Welcome to the Family,” which is set to lead out “Parks and Recreation” on the Peacock this fall. Knight will also be playing the role of Bean opposite Harrison Ford, Abigail Breslin and Hailee Steinfeld in Summit’s “Ender’s Game” this fall.

Sophie Nelisse

The youngest actress to win a Genie (the Canadian film academy’s annual awards) for her touching turn in “Monsieur Lazhar,” bilingual Nelisse hails from Montreal, where she appeared on sitcom “Les Parents.” She expands her resume of serious perfs this fall with the lead role in “The Book Thief,” based on Markus Zusack’s YA bestseller about a girl whose interest in reading helps her cope with the horrors of World War II.

Dylan O’Brien

Known since 2011 as the sarcastic scene-stealing buddy on MTV’s wildly popular “Teen Wolf,” O’Brien has starred in the teen romantic drama “The First Time,” appeared in Fox’s “The New Girl” and played a young Google intern opposite Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in “The Internship.” The comedic actor tackles his first leading role in Fox’s 2014 thriller“The Maze Runner,” based on James Dashner’s dystopian YA series, followed by another toplining perf in DreamWorks’ time-travel film “Glimmer.”

Nick Robinson

The fresh-faced 18-year-old carried Sundance competition pic “Toy’s House,” which opened theatrically in May under the title “The Kings of Summer.” After getting his start doing local children’s theater in his hometown of Seattle, Robinson landed the role of Ryder Scanlon on ABC Family sitcom “Melissa & Joey.” As the young wheelman in a warehouse robbery on HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire,” he also had the privilege of being rubbed out by Steve Buscemi.

Benjamin Stockham

Appearing this fall in the NBC sitcom “About a Boy,” this newly 13 thesp previously played the president’s son on NBC’s “1600 Penn.” @Benjstockham is active on Twitter with more than 1,500 fans following posts that range from photos with fellow thesps at movie premieres (at “Despicable Me 2” with Steve Carell) to his recent July post: “It’s my birthday month! Woohoo … I will be an official teenager. That’s good right?”

Emma Tremblay

The 9-year-old actress got her start doing commercials for Play-Doh, Miracle Whip and Fisher Price products, but makes the leap to the bigscreen in a major way with Neill Blomkamp’s “Elysium” next month. After attending an open-call audition, Tremblay landed the role of the young girl who inspires Matt Damon’s sci-fi uprising. Next up, she will play the daughter of Robert Downey Jr. in the David Dobkin-directed feature “The Judge.”

Brandon Wardell

A fledgling fixture on the D.C. comedy scene, 20-year-old Wardell is getting an early start at a standup career. Named the capital’s boy wonder by the Washington Post, Wardell started doing standup at 17 and cracked audiences up with his awkward adolescent charm. With tour dates at SXSW, the Bridgetown Comedy Fest, and the Comedy Central Stage in Hollywood, Wardell is slowly building his brand around the country.